CONTADOR HARRISON

April fool videos are a source of free publicity

Posted on April 1, 2013 07:52 am

Today, I have witnessed some of the best marketing gimmicks surrounding the April fools day. One that caught my attention was from Google when their YouTube team pranksters unleashed a video claiming that YouTube will shut down for another ten years until 2023. http://www.contadorharrison.com/april-fools-youtube-to-shut-down/. Other companies were not left behind in what has now become a traditional day of targeting the gullible on April 1.YouTube prank tried to demonstrate their other side but what was important is the amount of free publicity the site got. Google hoax that it was shutting down its YouTube service and also unveiled Gmail Blue, a new version of its e-mail service that is blue. I have also seen old parchment style navigation on Google Maps. Apart from Google, Sony Corp was not left behind as they introduced a TV that only displays pictures in dog friendly colours and has a remote with paw enabled buttons.

Yahoo’s French website led its front page with the announcement that, President Francois Hollande would move his offices from the Elysee Palace to one of Paris’s low income suburbs. Icelanders were caught off guard when the country Review Online carried a story that the country’s central bank had solved the problem of how to value the local currency, the krona and replace it with Africa’s CFA franc. The Times Daily of Florence, a newspaper in Alabama has front page carrying a picture of a local bridge coming under simultaneous attack by the Loch Ness Monster, a UFO and Godzilla. They also reported that panic was unnecessary as there are no deadly tomatoes reported near scene. World most respected public broadcaster BBC has carried a story on NASA’s Mars rover tweeting that bullying by Internet trolls was forcing it off Twitter. There are many more other pranks out there and it’s all about seeking attention from netizens. Hope you don’t fall prey to pranksters!